Law Student Gets Scammed From Craigslist

I guess it’s not only uneducated people who get taken in by scams.  This fellow was a law student at a major Ivy League Law School! Again, the scam was posted on Craigslist! It’s worth reading the whole article.

From the Washington City Paper

An intriguing Craigslist job ad turned up on June 21 of this year at a time when I was feeling particularly bleak. I had spent the better part of that morning losing at online Scrabble and wondering if I had enough money to get a small falafel for lunch. Here is the ad; if you had been in my shoes, you’d have perked up at it, too:

Our financial information research company is going to be temporarily adding 15 top tier legal minds to our staff in order to conduct an intensive due diligence and legal research project in Washington DC. We are hiring individuals who are independent and can work from their home office and local law libraries yet can still be accountable to a team and are available to begin immediately. Areas of law that will be utilized during this project are: corporate, mergers & acquisitions, intellectual property, securities, contract (product licenses), and copyright law. Conducting time sensitive world class research, writing memos to upper management, and the production of contract drafts and strategic partnership and licensing proposals will be required.

Only the best need apply. $21k for full time June 25 – Aug 20 employment. Again, only the best need apply.

I might not be the best, but I was desperate. I e-mailed my résumé along with a hopelessly earnest cover letter that extolled my superior research skills and my ability to keep even the most salacious secret. I was sure I’d get the job.